Wednesday, September 24, 2014

HALLIE EPHRON: Talk about a circuitous path. Connie Johnson Hambley
grew up on a dairy farm. She went on to have a successful career in law and
banking. Now she’s about to release her second thriller featuring Jessica Wyeth, a New England
horse trainer forced to come to terms with her own experiences in the war for
reunification of Northern Ireland. Connie’s first book, The Charity, explores the impact of the business of terrorism on
Jessica’s life in the States and its sequel, The Troubles, due out at the end of this year, picks up the story
in Ireland.

Connie, were you drawing on dairy farming or law and banking
when you wrote these books?

CONNIE HAMBLEY: Every family has its stories, and some of
the best fiction begins with the nuggets of lore and truth picked up along the
way. I grew up in New York State on a sprawling, picture-perfect farm filled
with cows and horses. My grandparents were Irish immigrants who lived the
American dream by starting a dairy delivering milk in a horse drawn wagon and growing
it big enough to employ many men who worked hard to support their own families.

That bubble burst when the barn was burned down by one of those men. You can
imagine the tizzy my parents went through trying to make sense of that! It was
my first real glimpse of the darker side of life.

The arsonist who threw the
lit matches into our hayloft didn’t look
like he could do such a thing. As I played with my Chatty Cathy doll in the
middle of the kitchen floor, I listened to men in uniforms and suits ask my
parents a lot of questions.

There was so much more going on than I could
comprehend at the time, and it all has become fodder for different themes I incorporate
into my books.

I learned he confessed, but was set free at trial because of
procedural issues. Years later, he showed up on our back porch and knocked on
our door. My mom didn’t recognize him at first, if she had she might have
reached for a shotgun, but he introduced himself as the guy who burned down her
daddy’s barn!

I think the injustice of that drew me into becoming a lawyer, and
the incongruities of a bucolic life tinged with arson jarred the mental wheels
into motion. The stories didn’t stop when I went into banking. The same type of
gall that prompts someone to torch a cow barn ripples through all sorts of
money laundering schemes. I really don’t have to dig that far to find a lot of
great stuff for stories!

I’ve witnessed some incomprehensible things in real
life, so why not have some fun with it by tweaking them in fiction?

HALLIE: Have you trained horses? Jumped? Competed? Or
watched it mostly from the stands?

CONNIE: I’ve trained and competed on both hunters and
jumpers, so I know the grit needed to get a half ton animal to respond to a
pipsqueak kid on its back.

Don’t let their big brown eyes fool you. There’s a
big, independent brain clicking away that’s trying to figure out a way around that obstacle, not over it. It’s
an incredible feeling to sail over a fence astride a horse. I bring that
essence of strength and awe into my character and it’s something my readers
respond to.

I’ve been lucky enough to have owned six horses, but I’m currently
a horse lover without a horse. I get my equine fix by volunteering to help
folks with special needs learn how to ride at Windush Farms in North Andover, MA.

HALLIE: What’s your Irish connection?

CONNIE: Growing up, I was surrounded by brogues, pale skin
and clergy. My ancestors hail from County Cork in the south and Drumshanbo in
northwest Ireland, about twenty miles from the border of Northern Ireland.

HALLIE: I hope you had to travel to Ireland to research this
book.

CONNIE: I traveled there a few years ago and can’t wait to
go back. Everything you hear about the natural beauty and wonderful people in Ireland
is true.

The most amazing experience I had was traveling down a narrow road
near Kinsale on the southwestern coast and coming across a stone circle, like
Stonehenge, but this one was only about thirty feet in diameter. It was too
small to be noted on any tourist map, and the locals didn’t want to talk about
it.

Whoo, boy! That got me thinking! The
boulders were lichen covered and mossy, just the way you’d want them to be!
Maybe it was my writer’s imagination gone wild, but I could feel the difference in energy there.

The delicious tingling feeling
of that discovery has stayed with me and is something I hope to impart to my
readers.

HALLIE: We were in Ireland this summer and I felt that magic visiting a stone circle, too.

Tell us what you’re working on next, and where our
readers can meet you in person.

CONNIE: After The
Troubles is launched, I’ll be able to focus on a memoir exploring the
impact of the barn fire on my family. Then it’s back to work on the third book
of the series.

September 26 will find me roaming the halls of my law school
alma mater and Barrister’s Book Shop at Vermont Law School. October 19 – 21
I’ll be at the New England Library Association Conference in Boxborough,
Massachusetts and on October 25 I’ll be at the Boston Book Festival. At BBF, for
one special reader of this blog who mentions this post to me and the secret
passphrase “Jungle Red Writers Rock,” I’ll have a signed copy of my book as a
gift for him or her!

HALLIE: Connie will be checking in today and answering questions and comments. My question: How does travel fuel your imagination?

Coming Soon! The Troubles

Jessica Wyeth is
no longer a fugitive hiding under assumed identities. Through sheer grit, she
has reclaimed her life only to find out that what she fought for was an
illusion. She is not the child of a picture-perfect New England family, but an
unwanted castaway. Broken, she tries
to move forward by traveling to a remote town in northwest Ireland to train
horses for a harrowing private jump race. Michael Conant, the rightful
successor to his father’s dubious empire and the man she owes her life to, has
set her up with everything she needs–world class horses, connections, and
bodyguards.

Michael and
Jessica struggle with their pasts and wonder if they are collateral damage in
the war for the reunification of Northern Ireland or an integral part of its
troubles. Jessica immerses herself in learning about her mother, only to find
betrayal in her mother’s truths. Michael rejects the legacy of his father and
is tested on how far he will go to keep her.

When attempts are
made on her life, Jessica questions if it is her past that is catching up with
her, or Michael's. Leaving the past buried could expose her to becoming another
casualty of war.

“The Troubles,”
sequel to “The Charity” and second in a series, continues the story of Jessica
Wyeth.

What a great interview with a wonderful budding author. My question is "What can your readers expect from your next book? Any sneak peaks, hints or themes you can share with us readers before it comes out?"

Thanks, Joan! There is something about a writer physically standing in the places where characters are set that seeps into descriptions. Kathy will be glad to hear that Jessica continues her journey at the Beltany stone circle in Raphoe, Ireland. It's very similar to the one I visited, and the personal experience helped me write about how it felt to be there, not just how it looked. There was a mystical and timeless quality to it that was incredible.

...and Lucy! I've gotten my share of bruises for not reading horses as well as I should! They have their body language and tells just like people.

I enjoyed your first book and I'm looking forward to "The Troubles". I'm curious . . . did you ever get an explanation from the arsonist as to why he returned to "the scene of the crime" to "re-introduce" himself to your family?

Very glad you are writing about the barn fire. Barns were a major investment and key foundation in American farming life. They were especially essential to dairy farming.

From a crime and justice standpoint, that story -- an act of vengeance by a jealous, disgruntled employee(?) -- needs telling. Were there ethnic overtones involved? And the fact the perpetrator escaped justice due to a procedural error?! Was it really an just an error, or was there collusion?

And the impact on your family? They must have shown, as you say, real grit to overcome and get past the tragedy.

I can see how such a tragedy could color a family's perspective for years.

All families encounter ups and downs. But to come to a new country, work hard for 30 or 40 years to build a business, and then have a major part of it destroyed in an afternoon, must have been extremely traumatic.

Bill - They way my Irish mom tells the story, the alleged arsonist was a bit "in his cups" when he came knocking. I can only imagine that as a man with nothing, burning down our barn was his big claim to fame. George, you're right about all the themes woven through the experience. It might have been one event impacting a single family, but the resilience needed to keep going is not unique. People put one foot in front of the other every day. I hope I can capture and express those little acts of heroism.

Hi Connie! I am so honored to be speaking to you right now! I am almost entirely a chick lit reader, but a friend of mine asked me to read your book which I reluctantly did...and I loved it! What do you think your thriller provided for chick lit lovers like me that other thrillers haven't accomplished? I have tried to get through other thrillers but have quickly lost interest. Yours was different.

What a great interview, Connie! And I love that you volunteer to work with horses and kids with special needs. Amazing how healing animals can be! You are a special soul to recognize this and help them connect. Really enjoyed this post!

I am an avid reader and I particularly enjoy mysteries. The Charity is up there with the best sellers. I can't wait for the sequel. I've passed my enthusiasm on to my friends and acquaintances... Northeast MA should be well covered!

Thank you, everyone! I have to say that I'm having a lot of fun right now!

No, Deb, he never apologized. One thing that amazes me is how my parents never spoke poorly of him and forgave him. He led a miserable life and they always felt that a higher power meted out his punishment.

Tracy - I'm glad I've introduced you to the world of thrillers! Check out Jungle Reds' shelf and you'll be a convert forever!

Connie , I so loved The Charity & can't wait to dive into The Troubles. You have often said ' everyone has a book in them to write ' ! When you wrote The Charity, did you know you had a second book to write ?

wearGreetings, Connie! I found you on Twitter and read your book as I have many other self-published writers like yourself. I must be candid by admitting a great deal of these books have barely kept my attention beyond the first 10 pages. The Charity was not one of those books; it was a true delight and should be on the best seller list next to the established thriller writers like Louise Penny, Dan Brown, and Aleatha Romig. I look forward to reading your next book.

Hi Laura and Ken - Thanks for your questions. I know my law school training was the best writing boot camp I ever had. Not a word gets written without it really meaning something. I'm cursed with a wild imagination combined with a dogged attention to detail. Facts and motivations have to knit together.

I caught your book reading at River Run bookstore and ended up buying "The Charity" and loved it. I couldn't put it down. My question to you is, when you wrote it, did you see it as a long story arc that might become a series, or did the success of the first book encourage you to continue on with it? I'm curious.

Hi Chris and Laura - I thought Jessica's story would be only one book. Then my readers started asking questions about what happens to her next, I realized that not only did I have answers, but there was another book (or two!) that had to be written. Thank you for your support!

I will look for your books Connie. They sound intriguing. I've been to Ireland a couple of times and loved it. Wonderful people and beautiful country. Good luck on getting the next book written as quickly as your fans want it!

Hi Connie! Welcome to JRW! Ireland? Horses? Just those two elements are enough to hook me. And I love the stone circle story. I've run across a few places in the UK that have made me feel the same way. So interesting.

Oh, and by the way, our barn burned to the ground when I was a child, too. I was told that one of my uncles hadn't put out a cigarette properly, but now I can't imagine anyone would have been smoking in a barn...

Connie, our lives sound like dopplegangers - rural New York state, dairy country, law school in New England, and horses (through my husband Ross, who comes from a seriously horsey family.) Fortunately, I don't have a traumatic case of arson in my past.

THE CHARITY sounds fascinating, and I look forward to meeting you at one of the many New England book events this fall!

Wow! I was glued to reading this interview. If your books are only half as fascinating as your post here, Connie, then they must be amazing. Count me in as a new fan who will be putting your books on my wish list and TBR list. You have led such an interesting life, so much fodder for the writing grist mill. I would deem you the quintessential accomplished person.

Connie, there are so many elements of intrigue in your life and your writing. The barn fire, the stones, the Irish heritage, the relationship between human and horse, the horse industry. I am imagining that you will never run out of material.

Lucy, I, too, am somewhat afraid of horses. When I took my kids to the Kentucky Horse Park some years ago, I was determined to show the kids, who were not afraid, that I could ride a horse around the trail with them. I, of course, was put on a horse named Firey, who had a tendancy to stray off the trail. I kept one of the guides busy with my calls for help. Although completely inept at horse riding or anything to do with horses, being from Kentucky, I have a love for the great, beautiful beasts and certainly didn't want to pass on my fear to my children. So, my daughter took riding lessons and loved it, and now her older daughter is taking lessons. It is a great confidence builder. My son isn't afraid of horses and has ridden them, but he didn't take any lessons. My husband grew up with riding a horse on his grandfather's farm, so he is comfortable with them, too. I just look and admire.

Connie, I'm still curious as to what the man who started the fire wanted when he showed up years later at your house. Was he in any way remorseful?

Kathy - I nearly fell off my seat reading your comment! "The Charity" brings Jessica to Kentucky, too. I mean, could I really talk about horse racing in the U.S. without it? Love the fact you didn't let your fear of horses get in the way of your children learning to ride. Good for you!

No, the man showed no remorse, only a misguided sense of pride. His motive was the well-worn on of being a disgruntled employee. It was a devastating loss for a farming family, and one that changed our hearts and shaped our futures. We all grew up and moved on.

Connie, I am surprised that a movie producer has not scooped up The Charity and done a movie on it yet! I was at the edge of my seat while reading the book. I'm looking forward to reading The Troubles.

Anne - The Troubles in Northern Ireland has incredible themes running alongside its difficult history. I hope to bring this time to life for my readers with as much accuracy as possible. That said, I get to a point and the imagination kicks in!

Margi - OMG!!! Yes! One of the silver linings of that day was how our small town gathered around us. We will never forget your family's kindness as my siblings and I were scooped up and protected by your family's love. Thank you!

Congratulations on the upcoming release of your second book. It's such an accomplishment. It must take so much work and discipline. Loved reading about your family history. Sad to learn about the barn burning. Curious to learn about your mother's reaction once she learned who he was. Why did he come back? Wishing you much success with the new book.Artemis

Connie - Love, love, love The Charity. Can't wait for Troubles. You've certainly created a world that I am unfamiliar with but enjoy dipping into in my fantasies. Just bought a Kindle so now I can read without glasses. So much more enjoyable. Still want to buy the book though if you'll autograph it for me. You won't be unknown long and I want to be able to say "I knew you when"!!

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